Ed "Smitty" Smith - Sound Engineer / Production Coordinator for the Stars

Edward “Smitty” Smith was born in 1966 at Brunswick Hospital, Amityville Long Island, NY, the second child of Ernest and Elenora Smith. Beginning in 1954, his father, Ernest, did over 30 years of military service. Six years of active duty in the Marines and twenty- thirty four years of reserve duty in the Army. In 1984 he retired as a First Sergeant. Ernest also worked in business on Wall Street. Elenora was a stay at home mom. They both taught Ed and his brother the importance of hard work in schooling, and to take pride at any job taken. Ed was fortunate to also be very close to his extended family members while growing up. He and his brother Ernie knew and regularly saw their grandparents, grandaunts, granduncles, aunts, uncles, and first, second and third cousins. 

Ed grew up in a very diverse, middle class part of Northern Bay Shore, NY. The area borders Brentwood, West Islip, Deer Park and North Babylon and was part of the Brentwood School District. Ed went through the Brentwood school system, graduating from Brentwood Sonderling High School in 1984. 
While growing up, Ed was never afraid of working. At the age of twelve and thirteen, he mowed lawns and would collect hub caps and sell them to junk yards for money. One of his favorite hobbies was collecting old baseball cards as a future investment. At fourteen, his father arranged a chance for Ed and his best friend Rick Lucyk to work at Yankee Stadium as venders.  Although they only got to do it once, it was a great experience and something he always remembered. In 1981, at age fifteen, his dad got him a summer mailroom job at Paine Webber in Manhattan. In 1983, now seventeen, Ed worked the summer at Prudential Bache, as an office clerk.

After graduating from High School in 1984, Ed’s father introduced him to a Manhattan Headhunter for some job opportunities. After three interviews he was offered a job at a corporate bank called Saudi International Bank as a mail clerk/messenger. By 1985 Ed was promoted to assistant to the trading department, because he had skills in typing. Typing was something his father forced him to take in high school because he thought the skill would become more important because of the computer.
 Ed did not particularly care for the 9 to 5 daily grind of office work. His whole life he had a love for music so in the winter of 1986, while still working in Manhattan during the day, Ed started classes at the Audio Recording Technology Institute at night, learning sound engineering. During the fall of 1986, it was announced that Saudi International Bank, which was based in London, England, was going to close their New York office. Ed was still going to school at night, but he also needed to work, so he turned to his dad for help. At the time, Ernest was working as a consultant at Merrill Lynch in Manhattan, so he was able to get Ed a job there doing consulting work as a researcher. The job entailed looking for stock certificates that were filed in the wrong departments and counting stock certificates by hand. Ed worked at Merrill Lynch until the spring of 1987 when he graduated from Audio Recording Technology Institute.

During the summer of 1987, Ed and a good friend, Don Stevens went to go see the band, Johnny Maestro and The Brooklyn Bridge. They were scheduled to perform a free concert in a park, but due to bad weather, the show was moved indoors. Ed and Don did not get into the show because there were no more seats available in the indoor venue, so they both went home joking that they would just have to play their records. Ironically, soon after the concert, Ed’s next-door neighbor, Carmine Stabile, came to him and asked "How would you like to do sound for Johnny Maestro and The Brooklyn Bridge? ". Ed replied “Are you kidding me?! “. Carmine then said, "I work out of the same office as the band ".  Carmine gave Ed the number of the office and was told to speak to Les Cauchi, the band manager. Ed spoke to Les and set up a meeting that included Carmine Stabile. Carmine hired Ed as his sound engineer because Carmine’s band was opening for Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge at a private party. It would be a perfect time for Ed to meet Johnny Maestro. So, after Carmine's set, it was Ed's big chance. Ed had the meeting and history was made for the future of the now dubbed "Smitty ".

Smitty's first gig with the band was a wedding in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in November 1987. It would start a relationship with the band that would last for over twenty-five years. Ed “Smitty” Smith’s dream had come true, he was doing what he loved and got out of the Manhattan business scene. Smitty's father was not happy at first, but his Mom supported it because she also had a love of music. His father would eventually embrace Smitty's decision. Smitty would go on to mix sound at all the major arenas in the US, theaters, colleges, international cruises, and concert halls, including Europe, Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and even Carnegie Hall. Johnny Maestro and the band felt so comfortable with Smitty running the mixing console, that they put in their contract that Smitty operate and have full control of the band’s performance. This included all union venues, television shows, and yes, even the National Anthem at sporting events. Smitty's career quickly blossomed. He was known for how he mixed sound.  He would layer the sound with the vocals right on top of the instruments, something very important for vocal groups.  

While committed to Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge, Smitty eventually started to put his name out in the music business as a freelance sound engineer, production coordinator and/or assistant coordinator for different agencies. From 1992 to 2013, he worked with Ray Reneri International as an assistant coordinator, and from 1993 to 1996 for JP Productions as a production coordinator, and from 1998 to 2010 with Richard Nader Entertainment as a production coordinator. Les Cauchi, the Brooklyn Bridge manager, and Smitty also built up the band's PA sound system.  When Les would book a gig where the promoter needed a sound system, Les would hire Smitty and his crew to do the whole show. The Brooklyn Bridge crew was Smitty's back bone, with Anthony Falco always his right-hand man from 1990-2013. Other crew members would fill out the whole Brooklyn Bridge machine so well that the band didn't ever need a sound check. The crew members would rotate, and included Ron Grimaldi, Scott Burn, Anthony Gentile, Brian Roome, the late Eric Leonard, monitor engineers Rob Cannon and Bobby Tis.  Bobby Tis would later win a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album with The Derek Trucks Band. Smitty had the chance to mix sound for many other recording artists and had many offers to leave the Brooklyn Bridge and work with these artists, but Smitty always stayed with the band because of the steady work and with them, it always felt like a family. 

With his career blossoming, Smitty married a childhood sweetheart in August 1989. Because of his scheduling they would separate in 1995, and eventually divorce. In 1993, Smitty opened and co-owned a baseball card store in Farmingdale, NY called the Card Loft. He would now take advantage of the baseball card hobby he started as a kid. Eventually due to the demand of band’s touring schedule, Smitty could not devote as much time as needed with the store so the doors of the Card Loft closed in 1995. 

In October of 1996, the Brooklyn Bridge did a gig for a local NY promoter, Harry G Productions, at Hofstra University. The show had many artists, and one of the groups was a female cover group called the Chiclets. The Chiclets consisted of a full band, with three front female singers. One of the singers caught Smitty’s eye. Her name was Theresa Scaduto; her stage name was, Teresa Marie. For Smitty it was love at first sight. The only problem was, she was not completely free, there was another guy she had been with on and off for over five years. After a few dates though, he won her heart. They got engaged on Christmas day 1998. That same year, Smitty would get involved in local politics. He became a committeeman in the Islip Town Republican Party. He did this because then Congressman Rick Lazio helped Smitty cut through the red tape and get his mother access to his father's thirty year active and reserve military service pension from his date of death. Smitty felt he should give back and help people who may not know the system. He believed most people would fall through the bureaucratic cracks and not fight for what they deserved. 

With the wedding approaching, Smitty kept a promise he made to his future father-in-law to get a job with full family benefits and pension. In the year 2000, Smitty began working in the Town of Islip Highway Department as a laborer. He learned all aspects of the job, including getting his CDL license. Duties of his job included plowing snow, street paving, road repair, and drainage. Smitty eventually worked out of title as an area foreman with that knowledge he would be transferred to the Department of Parks and Recreation.  In September of 2000 Smitty and Theresa would marry, and make Bay Shore, on the border of West Islip, their home. During this time, Smitty continued working with the Brooklyn Bridge and freelancing. As time went by, the job, politics, the band and the arrival of children made things very stressful. Theresa, or as Smitty calls her, “his backbone”, helped keep everything manageable. Tragedy struck Smitty and the band when Johnny Maestro passed away in March of 2010. It seriously affected them all. Smitty always considered Johnny his father on the road, and the Brooklyn Bridge had been working together for over forty years. Smitty, Brooklyn Bridge drummer Lou Agiesta, along with a friend Mark Lewis, produced a memorial for Johnny Maestro at Queens College. The memorial can be seen on You Tube. Smitty now started getting calls from other artists to work exclusively for them.  He decided to stay with the Brooklyn Bridge as they rebuild the band after Johnny Maestro’s death. More tragedy hit the band when original member Fred Ferrara then passed away.

In the summer and winter of 2009, Smitty twice injured his right arm on the town job. He went for treatment and followed everything the doctors told him to do, but the pain never went away. Eventually he would have carpal tunnel surgery performed on his right hand, thinking the pain would go away. The surgery did not work. He learned to live with the pain. While continuing his activities with the band, the town, politics, and freelancing in the music business, Smitty now added coaching for the West Islip Little League Baseball for his son Eddie. At this time, he began to feel tired all the time, and would fall asleep and not remember he was sleeping. Smitty and Theresa just thought it was stress from all the things Smitty was involved in. He was now getting sick more often which was something that he never experienced before. Doctors told him that he was spreading himself too thin and to get more rest.

In 2010 Smitty received a most unexpected phone call. It was from Stephanie Gold, someone he has done business in the past as assistant production coordinator for Ray Reneri International. She asked Smitty if he would like to do sound for Gloria Gaynor, who Stephanie managed. Smitty told her that with the Brooklyn Bridge rebuilding and the town job, it would be too much. Stephanie told him they would work around his scheduling. Since the Brooklyn Bridge gigs were dwindling, Smitty began to work for Gloria Gaynor more often. During all this, Smitty's right arm was still hurting him and he was still getting sick all the time while traveling with Gloria Gaynor. Smitty loved traveling and working with Gloria Gaynor. He said she was the sweetest woman he ever worked for and during their travels they would have long discussions about life, spirituality and the importance of family.

During this time, Smitty added more projects to his already hectic schedule. He become a Zone Leader in the Islip Town Republican Party and would start a production company with longtime friend Ron Seifried, called Ducktail Productions. With Ducktail Productions, Smitty began working on a long dreamed of documentary about a subject true to his heart, Doo Wop-The Lost Sound of Rock & Roll. The documentary was to focus on how the music business treats Doo-Wop as a novelty, and how much it has influenced many new artists. Amidst all these activities Smitty’s was getting ill more and more often, the pain in his arm increased and he began suffering from anxiety attacks. By December of 2011 he was hospitalized with pneumonia and a rash started spreading on his chest. Because of his job with the Parks Department, he was used to getting rashes on his arms and legs from poison ivy, so he ignored it.

In January of 2012, Smitty received a phone call from newly elected Town of Islip Supervisor, Tom Croci. Tom asked him to be the Parks Department 's Deputy Commissioner. Tom Croci thought with all his experience in the Highway Department and the Parks Department plus his office experience in Manhattan, Smitty would be great asset to his team. Smitty accepted the position.

Ed jumped into his new job and by the spring of 2012 had put together a whole concert in the park summer series for the Town of Islip. But he began to notice that his speech started to slur. It started slowly and got worse during the summer plus the rash he developed never went away. At first Smitty and Theresa thought it was just stress from everything Smitty was involved with. As the slurring of his speech continued to worsen, he was accused of drinking by a promoter at a Gloria Gaynor show. After that ordeal, Smitty was very open on what was going on with him. Smitty had a meeting with Town Supervisor Tom Croci and he showed a lot of support for Smitty.

As summer turned to fall, Smitty’s speech was getting worse. He went to his family doctor once again. The doctor heard his slurring speech and sent Smitty to Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip for tests to make sure that he did not have a stroke and to again check the rash he still had since December of 2011. The tests for stroke came back negative. They thought the slurring of speech could be caused by Myasthenia Gravis but had no clue what was causing the rash. Further testing for Myasthenia Gravis came back negative so now ALS was suspected. So, they sent Smitty to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital to see the top doctor of ALS. Smitty went to the doctor and did several tests with the nerves and the doctor was puzzled because he was walking fine and still had strength in his arms. The rash puzzled the doctor as well since it two symmetrical circles on Smitty’s chest. The doctor's assessment was it that Smitty has a form of ALS called Progressive Bulbar Palsy and that Smitty had, at most, three years to live. Smitty was shocked. Not satisfied, Smitty wanted to see more doctors.

Soon after this diagnosis, super storm Sandy hit Long Island. Smitty, a first
 responder with the Parks Department, would stand strong for the workers and try to show no weakness even though he was feeling extremely tired all the time and his speech was slurring badly. He even ran meetings with FEMA when the Commissioner could not make the meetings. Smitty would be very open about his condition before the meetings. They all weathered the storm and clean-up after, with all the Town of Islip employees showing great support and respect towards Smitty, from the Supervisor on down.

During the winter of 2012 into 2013 Smitty was waiting for his appointment with the ALS Neurologists at Stony Brook University Hospital because it takes a while to get an appointment with any specialist. He still could not believe what was going on. During this wait, his wife, Theresa and brother Ernie began doing research on Lyme Disease. Lyme Disease can mimic other diseases like ALS, if undetected and not treated early. Smitty also started remembering that he had ticks on him all the time while working for the Parks department.

In January 2013 the appointment to see the neurologists at Stony Brook University Hospital finally arrived. Smitty and Theresa both had many questions about Smitty's symptoms and were ready for the neurologists. They brought all records from the original hospital tests, the report from Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, copies of MRIs and nerve tests results. The neurologist pretty much read everything in the report and just went with the other Neurologists reports and said it's ALS. No additional testing was done!! Theresa and Smitty asked about Lyme Disease, and the neurologist said Lyme Disease doesn’t do this. Smitty asked "what about the rash on my chest that I have had since December of 2011 ". The neurologist replied, "that has nothing to do with the other results ". “Is there anything we can do, anything we could try” Smitty asked. He asked about trials of treatments in other countries. The neurologist spoke negative of the treatments in other countries and said there is nothing that can be done. The neurologist just gave Smitty and Theresa a support phone number through Stony Brook Hospital and sent them on their way. Smitty would go home very mad because he felt no one was helping him. Theresa did call the support phone number to see if they could get help from somebody.

Smitty was still not convinced of the diagnosis he was getting. He was still wondering why no one would do a Lyme test or a spinal tap for Lyme disease. So, he went to see another neurologist. But of course, this neurologist just read the reports, looked at his tongue and said, definitely ALS. Smitty asked about Lyme disease and the neurologist said Lyme disease does not do this. Smitty was planning a family trip to Disney World in the last two weeks in August 2013 and asked the doctor about how he would do traveling. The doctor told him that he better move-up the family trip because he only had a few months to live! Smitty was alone for this visit and cried all the way home.

It was now the end of January 2013. Smitty was still doing all his jobs; with the town and traveling with the bands. His slurring speech was worsening, and he was getting really tired all the time. He was still trying show no pain in front of everybody and standing strong for the employees at the Town of Islip. Through a family friend he found another neurologist too try. Smitty wanted to have someone to listen to him about Lyme disease. So, in February of 2013 Smitty and his brother went to Manhattan to see this neurologist hoping he had an open mind of the situation. He went through the medical reports but wanted to look at MRI himself in front of Smitty and Ernie. When looking at the MRI he found a marking in front of brain he said is usually caused by Lyme disease. At least they found a neurologist with an open mind. He was puzzled about the rash and the fact that Smitty’s legs were strong and he had good balance also still had strength in arms. He was not so sure it was ALS. They both left the doctor feeling hopeful, but had to wait one month to see that neurologist again. While waiting for that appointment, the symptoms did get worse for Smitty. He started to have problems with both his legs. Theresa finally gets a call back from the support group at the Stony Brook Hospital. Smitty told her to forget about them because they were very cold with him and it took a very long time for the support group to call back. Meanwhile Smitty and Ernie went back to the neurologist with the open mind. However, he noticed Smitty’s legs were starting to get worse after he examined him. He delivered his final diagnosis of ALS.

During all this, the rash on Smitty’s chest was now developing a crust on the surface. Smitty saw another dermatologist for the rash. Numerous tests were run, and all came back negative, even the one for cancer. The dermatologist was stumped. She had no clue what it was and gave Smitty another ointment to put on it just like the other doctors. Frustrated, Smitty just went about his business doing all his jobs to the best of his ability. One day, after a Commissioners meeting, Town Supervisor Tom Croci asked Smitty to stay after the meeting so he could speak with him. Tom Croci relayed a story about a family friend going through the same thing that Smitty was going through. The friend had even gone to see specialists in different states. The Supervisor wanted Smitty to contact this gentleman to compare treatments. He was going to a place that treated people holistically; they even had a Lyme disease expert. It usually took a long time to get an appointment, but the gentleman told them about Smitty's story, and they wanted to see Smitty right away. Smitty got an immediate appointment and did a series of tests including one for Lyme Disease, something he had always wanted. They took pictures of his rash. The doctors were well versed in Lyme disease. When the Lyme disease tests results came back, Smitty had six markers out of ten, and tested positive for bartonella, a Lyme co-infection. Unfortunately, by New York State medical insurance standards, not enough markers to be treated for Lyme Disease. So Smitty and Theresa had to use their savings to begin treatment. While all this was going on, Smitty continued to work as Deputy Commissioner of Parks, rebuilding with the Brooklyn Bridge band, touring with Gloria Gaynor and still working on the documentary with his business partner. He had to work to pay for the treatments for Lyme Disease. Around this time, he told Gloria Gaynor that it would be okay if she wanted to find someone else to replace him. Gloria told him it was much too early to talk about that, and she grabbed Smitty’s hands and prayed for him

As the summer of 2013 began, Smitty started treatment for Lyme disease. He received a PICC line in his arm and started with antibiotics and an IVIG dose to treat the disease. Smitty felt stronger. As the treatments continued into the summer, the rash Smitty had since December 2011 went away completely and his legs felt better. Told months earlier by one of the neurologists to move up his planned Disney trip, Smitty took the trip as planned in late August 2013. Not only did he feel better, Smitty drove all the way to Florida and drove all the way back. Smitty's family enjoyed the full two weeks at Disney, Universal and Sea World. Smitty returned feeling positive about the treatments. He continued his job with the Town of Islip, touring with the bands and squeezing in interviews for the documentary

In late fall of 2013 Smitty’s condition started to worsen. The doctor’s sent Smitty to a Lyme literate neurologist at NYU Langone hospital for a spinal tap. The results came back with even more markers for Lyme Disease. They began different treatments for the Lyme Disease, but his condition worsened more and by Christmas 2013 he could not use a fork and knife. People had to help feed him, but he was still able to walk by shuffling his feet. Smitty was steadily declining through January and February of 2014. Since his office with the Town of Islip was upstairs, they moved him to the warehouse because there was no handicap elevator in the building. By February of 2014 Smitty needed help to get dressed. The last weekend of February 2014 would be Smitty's last two shows with the Brooklyn Bridge. His two friends Jay Mackey and Bill Flinn would go with him to Florida to help him get dressed. The shows included old friends, J. T. Carter's Crests, The Del Satins and others. Smitty found it weird that his last shows were connected to Johnny Maestro and Fred Ferrara, who were such close friends. March 3rd, 2014 would be Smitty’s last show with Gloria Gaynor at the Palladium in Patchogue, Long Island, NY. It would also be his last show ever. Soon after in March he had to stop work at the Town of Islip, retiring as Deputy Commissioner of Parks and Recreation. During that summer Smitty would become confined to a wheelchair and still being treated for Lyme disease. Everything was out of pocket for the family. In August 2014, an old school mate of Smitty's would put together a fundraiser / 40th class reunion for Smitty.

As the months progressed, Smitty’s conditioned worsened. Although he still had movement in his legs, he could only move with the aid of a wheelchair because of balance issues. A hospital bed was set up on the lower floor of his house for him to sleep in. Home health aides were brought in to assist in his feeding and dressing. The large downstairs bathroom was made fully handicapped/wheelchair accessible so he could shower. Eating became more and more difficult as Smitty’s ability to swallow began to worsen. During this time Smitty began more holistic treatments such as acupuncture and Brain Core therapy. The official diagnosis was still a generic, Motor Neuron Disease. Smitty still attended parties and get-togethers with family and friends. In the summer of 2015 he went to see his old buddies, The Brooklyn Bridge in an outdoor concert in the park. It was the last time he would see them perform live.

On the morning of August 19, 2015, Smitty began having problems with his breathing. His home health aide was monitoring his heartrate and oxygen and noticed his oxygen levels were steadily dropping. An ambulance was called and Smitty was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital. In the emergency room he went into cardiac arrest. The doctors were able to revive him, and he was intubated to help his breathing. The initial fear was he had lost too much oxygen while being revived. Once he woke up. Smitty wasn’t fully cognizant of what was happening. He was moved to the ICU. While there a failed swallow test necessitated a PEG so he could eat. The respiratory therapist also tried to wean him off the ventilator but to no avail. The decision was made to perform a tracheotomy. Smitty has been on a ventilator ever since that procedure. After a few weeks, Smitty was moved out of ICU to a regular room in a respiratory step down unit. After a week, the respiratory therapists were doing simple maintenance on his trach, when Smitty went into cardiac arrest again. Once again, he was revived and then moved back to ICU for the remainder of his stay in the hospital.

By October it was decided Smitty was stable enough to be moved to a nursing/rehab facility. On October 16 he was transferred to a facility in Freeport NY. This began more than a year of discomfort and misery for Smitty. At one-point Smitty’s weight dropped to 128 pounds. During this time, a doctor finally gave a better diagnosis, Progressive Bulbar Palsy, a form of ALS. Since the prognosis was that there was no treatment and Smitty’s time left was short, he made the decision that he wanted to go home. Smitty’s wife Theresa began a long crusade taking nearly a year to make that happen. She arranged for all the equipment and he would have nurse coverage 24X7.  On the morning of November 9, 2016, he came home. Unfortunately, the next evening he had trouble breathing again and needed to be rushed back to the hospital. This time it was a severe case of pneumonia. He was sent home from the nursing facility with it. Smitty was placed in the pulmonary unit at Good Sam Hospital. His conditioned worsened. The first week of December, the palliative care team, requested a meeting with Theresa. She was told that Smitty did not have much time left. One doctor even said he would not make it to Christmas that year. At the very least, Smitty would never go home again. Theresa said she would discuss it with Smitty and see what his wishes were for DNRs. Smitty, once told, had other ideas. He steadily began improving. He celebrated Christmas in the hospital and was home again by the end of January 2017.

Smitty has been home since (with one side trip to the hospital for a mild case of pneumonia on New Year’s Eve 2017) He still has nurses 24-7. His family and friends are free to visit whenever they can. He can experience the day to day activities of the house. He has his new friend, Ringo, a rescue dog, who lays on top of him in his bed and when a pup, on his lap in the wheelchair, and now the family has another addition, Trudy, a squishy little mixed terrier who also loves to hang out on Smitty’s bed. He hopes to finish the documentary he and his business partner Ron Seifried were working on when Smitty got sick since they already had several interviews done. Also finish a genealogy research reference book of his Smith family who came to America in 1663 from the Netherlands. Smitty is twelfth generation of Adrian Lamberzen Smeets who was the first emigrant to come to America. Smitty is a past member of the Holland Society. And lifetime member of the Blauvelt Association, past member of the David Ackerman Descendants, also past member of the Van Vorhees Association.

Smitty wants to thank his mom and granny for always playing music all the time while he was growing up. And his cousin Sue Wiegman who he calls his “Cool Sue”, she had the biggest record collection with all types of music and kept him up to date on music during the seventies while growing up. When other kids got toys Smitty got records and 8-tracks.  Smitty would also thank the promoters other then the ones he worked for, he enjoyed working with especially Jon"Bowzer" Bauman. The great Dick Fox, Richard Nader, the Farag brothers of Canterbury Productions, Jerry Blavat, and Henry Deluca.

Smitty would also thank Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge and Gloria Gaynor for the best years of his life. And mentors Les Cauchi, Ray Reneri, and Clay Cole who taught him a lot of the music business. With companies who helped Smitty put on top rate shows. They were Tom Heinish of SK Systems and Steve at EKO Productions Smitty really thanks a lot. Now at this part of his life he thanks best friends for thirty to forty five years and old school friends who stepped up with love and support. And he can't forget the Brooklyn Bridge fans.